Raleigh, NC-- The economy is churning slowly, jobs are coming and going, but North Carolinians were generous when it came to helping charities.

Friday, North Carolina Secretary of State Charitable Solicitation Annual Report states was released. The report highlights money coming in and going out from charities licensed by the State.'

The 2011-2012 report states that charities collected $43,624,311.63 from North Carolinians during the 12 month period recorded of July 1, 2011 - June 30, 2012.

According to the report, this is a significant recovery in giving from 2010-2011 when North Carolinians gave $26,716,762.16 during the same time period.

Secretary of State Elaine F. Marshall released this statement about the almost $17 million jump in giving: "The Chronicle of Philanthropy recently declared North Carolina to be one of the 10 'Most Generous States' in the nation, and our own study certainly reflects that as well. "It is clear the people of our great State are doing everything they can to help those in need and to support good works in this challenging time."

The report also shows that from the total raised, charities directly received $23,694,858.08 from the fundraising campaigns. That averages to a 54.32 percent net return to the charities for each dollar donated.

North Carolinians also continued to do a better job than people in other states in picking fundraising campaigns with lower overhead, where more cents of each dollar were passed on directly to the charities, according to the report.

In national or multi-state fundraising campaigns that included North Carolina donors and so were reported to the Secretary of State's Office, only 42.55 percent of each dollar given passed directly to the charities after administrative costs.

This is the third year in a row where the North Carolina-only donations percentage came in higher than its comparable multi-state counterpart percentage.

On its webssite, the Secretary of State's Office states that it licenses charities and non-profit organizations that:

-- Use professional fundraising services for their solicitation campaigns,
-- Compensate their officers,
-- Or, raise at least $25,000 and are not exempt from state law for reasons such as being a religious institution or volunteer fire department or educational institution.

People with questions about individual charities or charitable solicitation activities in general can call the Secretary of State's Office, Charitable Solicitation Licensing Division at 1-888-830-4989 (toll-free in North Carolina) or 1-919-807-2214.

The annual report does not look at all charitable and non-profit causes operating in North Carolina. It specifically examines charitable groups that choose to use paid solicitors registered with the North Carolina Secretary of State's Office. Data in the report breaks down how much of each dollar given by the public is taken for fundraising costs.